1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure deals with electrical connections between electronic devices in which electrical continuity is maintained through magnetic attraction.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many kinds of electrical connectors that are used to provide electrical signal and electrical power from one device to another. Many conventional reversible connectors depend upon overcoming a mechanical force during the mating process in order to provide a residual biasing force between the electrical contacts. Other zero-insertion-force or ZIF connectors, such as those for flat cables (as expected by the name) allow cable contacts to easily slip into position. However, a mechanical force still needs to be applied to create or release contact pressure after the insertion phase. Typically, in order to mate one electrical connector to another device, the two connectors must be oriented within a small range of angles and directed along a mating path within a certain displacement tolerance range. It is fairly easy to connect a USB connector to a mobile phone jack when the male and female members can be observed. This can be difficult in applications in which connectors are hidden in a cavity, such as a protective case for the electronic device. Guiding ramps and floating mechanical assemblies have been employed to ease these difficulties, but this usually increases the size or cost of the assembly.
Some connectors have arrays of fragile pins that can be damaged if not properly aligned, or spring contacts that relax overtime and become less reliable through use.
While some systems attempt to address one or more of these problems, a need still exists for an electrical connector solution that provides a robust electrical and mechanical attachment using magnetic materials. This disclosure is directed at addressing one or more of these difficulties. Other goals of some embodiments are to provide protection of the standard device I/O connector; to provide breakaway capability of attached devices, to facilitate installation of devices into protective cases and to provide a system for providing an adapter to provide device attachment flexibility.